bonzai

Not including the underworlds warband, with this update they nerfed 30% of our battle tome. And that 30% just happened to be all of our most effective units. I was concerned over a month ago, when they held us up to be on the same level as Seraphon. Yeah, we had a spike in performance. Why? Because of a couple reasons. First, Drakkfoot is a nice counter to Maggotkin and Nighthaunt. Both of those armies are very popular, so we are a spoiler list of sorts. Second was the Incarnate. Before Kragnos or the Incarnate we didn't have a tournament showing better than 3-2. This started to change once they were released, and we started to see our rankings go up. The obvious conclusion was that we drastically needed a hammer. In addition the Incarnate specifically supplemented our only viable play style, which was board control that is achieved by pinning your opponent in place. We were 1% higher than they wanted us, and a big part of the reason behind that was the current Meta. In response they nerfed not only the Incarnate, but all of the effective units that we have. I think that this is way too heavy handed of a nerf, and shows the lack of nuance and understanding that GW has. My competitive list has gone up 160 points between this and the purple sun nerf. That is potentially 20 wounds less in my list. I think that they could have just nerfed the Incarnate and achieved their desired result. That being said, a 20 point increase on the Wurrgogs was fair. Our army consists of 2 boxes, 1 clamshell, and 2 resin heroes. Our bench isn't exactly deep, so any hits like this hit hard.

My wishlisting: 1. Courtier combo kits. No more robbing our boxes of models to make our Courtiers and having under strength units. Furthermore I want to see each Courtier being a dual kit for a second option Crypt ghast or Court Vizier: the second option being a cheap goul caster that doesn't replenish units like a Courtier. Maybe give them the option to forgo casting for a turn to provide a casting bonus to an abhorrant, which would cap at a +2 from multiple Viziers. Visually it could be something as simple as alternate arms with a staff and or book to differentiate between the two. Crypt Haunter or Bannerman: the second option being a totem with an aura that improves the rend of nearby knights and serfs instead of replenishing units. Visually it would swap a back piece for a long bone protrusion coming from it's spine that is adorned with skulls and flayed skin. Crypt Infernal or Herald: the second option having a very potent mortal wound dealing scream attack instead of replenishing units. I am talking warp lighting cannon level of deadly. Visually it's mouth and neck would be different, showing them puffed up and bellowing. Varghulf Courtier or Court Champion: the second option would be even more of a smash bat and have the ability to make monstrous rampages instead replenishing units. Visually I am picturing some crude armor plates and chains and manicls that give it crowd sweeping attacks. 2. One named character for each subfaction, plus 2 more. Also, I am terrible at fantasy names, so please excuse the nick names. Beat Stick Bob: the patriarch of the Hollowmourne. As the name implies, be would literally be a beatstick. I picture him being like Bastion, and healing up at the drop of a hat. Therefore the opponent has to focus on him or he will be back to full health in no time. Visually I see a large gluttonous Abhorrent, with a large belly, big jowls, stringy and patchy hair, a dirty loin cloth, crown of bones, and wielding a Gargant femur as a huge club. Flavor wise, he is a jovial and portly king that see the world as friendly tournaments and grand feasts. In reality he is a ravenous fiend in battle, that constantly feasts upon his enemies in battle. Burnt Betty, high priestess of the light: the matriarch of the Blisterskin. She can fly, and is a priest with a reroll. Her prayer let's her shoot a ray of pure light that deals d3 mortals with a bonus +2 vs death units. Plus she would have access to generic prayers, which would let us get Curse. Visually I picture a bald, naked female forward with a pair of semi tattered wings sprouting from her back. However every inch of her flesh is charred and crackling. Flavor wise she is the most fanatical and dedicated in her faith in the light, flying higher and longer in the sunlight than anyone else. Alnost to the point of immoliation.To the mordant, she is a living Saint and explar. In reality she is a manic harpy that doesn't quit. George the general: the patriarch of the Morguant. He will be an upgrade sprue for a zombie dragon. His main shtick is that he when he issues commands, he can effect 3 units at once. Visually he will be a slightly better armored ghoul king with a nasty looking spear. Flavor wise he is the FEC's ace commander. Sigfried the beast tamer: patriarch of Gristlegore. His main ability will be pregame moves for a couple units. Visually he will be a muscular Ghoul king with pelts, and 2 massive ghouled hunting hounds with him. Flavor wise he is an amazing hunter that has a menagerie of trained beasts that help him in his hunts. Jack, the jester of Ushoran: as his name implies he is part of Ushoran's original court. He will be a more tricky and tactical character. He can start in reserve and pop out of a terrain piece or board edge. He can retreat and charge, -1 to hit him in melee, and has a rule where he can try and goad a unit to charge him and no one else in the charge phase. Visually I picture a ghoulish vampire stuffed into a ratty and ill fitting jester outfit with a fool's stave. Flavor wise he is ancient, and remembers how things were before they were cursed. The irony is that he is the only member of his bloodline to remain completely lucid. This isn't to say that he is completely sane. Seeing his vampiric family devolve into insane cannibals has made him angry and more than a little unhinged. Worse, no matter how loud he screams or passionately pleads to them, they always interpret his words as some great joke, or biting satire. Bound to Ushoran through the power of his blood, he has become bitter and jaded as well. Ushoran, the Rogue Mortarch: he is our big boy. A bruiser of an abhorrant. He can replenish units like a Varghulf, but rolls extra dice. Once per game he can return a slain unit, and his command ability is the same as an Arch Regent, but can summon a Ghoul king as well. 3. Other units? Bat Swarms: They were squatted out of Soulblight, so they are fair game for us. I seem them as flyers, able to deepstrike out of reserve. Cheap, 6 wounds 3 bases per unit. 6 attacks, 6's to hit, 6's to hit, 1 damage. Casters and priests subtract 1 from their rolls to get off Spells and prayers while in combat with them. Pure Chaffe speed bumps. Those would be my current wishlist units.

So... change of gears for a bit. The manager of the local GW is talking about running a tournament that allows Anvil of Apotheosis characters. So I have started theory crafting one. I had purchased an old metal Wurrzag a while back, and have pulled the trigger on a 3D printed counts as Squiggoth. I will kit bash them together and I came up with the following build; Bonesplitterz Orruk 3 (Acolyte) Mage's Staff 1 Gargantuan Beast 15 Vicious Charge: 1 Stomp: 2 Archpriest: 3 Regenerate: 3 3x extra armor 6 Superior vitality 1 Total: 35 destiny points (350 list points) Since it doesn't have the unique keyword, it would get a prayer enhancement. This would let me get Curse. Curse will interfere with Spirit of Gorkamorka, but would be worth it, especially with Drakkfoot. In the mean time he is a hammer, and is mobile enough to more or less keep up with Boar Boys. Here is my initial list. Drakkfoot Grand Strategy: Waaagh! Triumph: Bloodthirsty Battle Regiment Mogguk (tough 'un, Lucky Bone, curse) 350 Savage Big Boss 65 (General, great hunter) 10 Moreboys 155 10 Moreboys 155 10 Savage Orruk Boys (chompas) 165 2 Big Stabbas 80 2 Big Stabbas 80 Command Entourage Wurrgog Prophet (Gorkamorka’s War Cry, Glowing Tattoos) 150 Wardokk (Glowing green tusks) 80 Wardokk (power of the wereboar) 80 Bounty Hunters 10 Boarboy Maniacs 290 10 Boarboy Maniacs 290 Endless Spells: Emerald Life Swarm 60 Total: 2,000 The idea is that I have a ton of healing to try and keep my priest up and running and maximizing curse damage with the Boarboy Maniacs. The rest is pretty straight forward. Would love to hear feed back for both the character and the list! mogguk-waaaghbringa__002c-erald-o__0027-gorkamorka.pdf

There is a new Meta watch article up. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/09/29/metawatch-how-the-warhammer-age-of-sigmar-team-uses-tournament-data-to-balance-the-game/ In it, they talk about what they look for in terms of game balance, and what they prioritize. Frankly this has me concerned. By thier metrics we are a stronger army than Seraphon, and slightly above where they wanted us on the power curve. This is nuts! Yeah we have been having a fun streak as a surprise wild card army, but it has been a small group of skilled players that have been pushing those win margins, and it also has had a lot to do with things external to our army units. Things like the Krondspine, GH2, etc... There is no way that we should be put at the same level as Seraphon, let alone higher than them. At least our win rate is only slightly higher than thier target percentage. What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you for the indepth write up. I will admit that I am still finding my footing with my Bonesplitterz this edition. I have been playing Drakkfoot since the begining, but up until now they were the caster focused sub faction. That was my jam with them, regularly casting 6 spells a turn with easily obtainable 3+ casting bonuses. I would suppliment this with nice screens to protect the casters, some mobile units, and a distraction carnifex/hammer unit. Now I am forced to play the army entirely differently. Not necasarily the worst thing ever, but it has been a big adjustment. This write up helps, and seeing you get a 4+ to cast vs seraphon does make me smile. Congratz on your great showing!

I tried Get Dem Bones a lot when the book came out. My experience was that it was easily achievable. However towards the the end of the game I am usually really short on units. So claiming it usually involved me removing a unit from an objective. So in the end it was causing me to trade points instead of netting them. So I switched to Waaagh as I can score that passively. Other lists and players might get more mileage out of it though.

Main question I have is, did Mork's Boney Bits ever do anything? Last edition I never left home without them, as I could get a 3+ to cast from them, a wardokk, and a Rogue Idol. Now with it being completely dependant on my opponents roster, I haven't looked at it since.

Which is BS. Especially seeing coalition rules other armies get.

Lately I have been doing some small 750 teaching games to bring a friend into the hobby. I will be picking up an incarnate now that they are sold seperately, and am looking forward to giving it a spin. My local GW store it thinking of running a fall Path to Glory campaign. I am torn between my FoC or Bonesplitters for it. If I run splitters, I will be kitbashing a squiggoth riding priest of gorkamorka as my Anvil of Apotheosis character. Would be fun to have a monster and cast curse again. Plastic recently went 4-1 with his list. He did a list write up on facebook, but he hasn't posted a write up yet.

If I dropped the big stabbas and the wardokks I could fit a 3rd unit of 10. Would have to drop either the bounty hunters or conquerors battalion to make it work. Not thrilled about the idea of going down to just one hero though. I think I will try the list as is for now, except putting the Boarboys in the bounty hunter battalion instead of the big stabbas.

Good point. This is why I put it up for review first. I think my brain was still thinking "mounts bad", but that doesn't apply to bounty hunters.

Tweaked my Incarnate list a bit. Basically dropped the emerald lifeswarm and freed up points for a purple sun, as it seems much more usefull in this list. I will miss the mobility of the wierdnob, but boy do I love me some multiple wardokks. Now my battleline counts as triple on objectives and my big stabbas will be brutal against opponents battleline. It's 5 drops now which is a little higher than I tend to go for, but I think that will be a trend in the meta in general. - Army Faction: Orruk Warclans - Army Type: Bonesplitterz - Subfaction: Drakkfoot - Grand Strategy: Waaagh! - Triumph: Bloodthirsty LEADERS Wurrgog Prophet (150)*** - General - Command Traits: Master of Magic - Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz - Spells: Gorkamorka’s War Cry Wardokk (80)*** - Spells: Glowy Green Tusks - Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur Wardokk (80)*** - Spells: Power of the Were-boar BATTLELINE Savage Orruk Morboys (155)** Savage Orruk Morboys (155)** Savage Orruks (165)** - Chompa BEHEMOTH Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*** OTHER Savage Big Stabbas (80)* Savage Big Stabbas (80)* Savage Boarboy Maniaks (290)*** Savage Boarboy Maniaks (290)*** ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70) CORE BATTALIONS *Bounty Hunters **Expert Conquerors ***Battle Regiment TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000 Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App What do you guys think? Barring any rules changes. This will probably be the list I take to my next event... whenever that is.

Doh! I read the action it's self, not the paragraph above it. Your right. Thats a bummer. It's still nice, but not nearly as strong.

Got a game in today, and tried out the new heroic action. Being able to return models during my opponents hero phase was really clutch. It really upped my units survivability helped me win the war of attrition.

My list is nearly unchanged. I was really hoping that there would be a way to get curse on a screaming bell. Since there isn't I am still running with the plague priests. Same game plan as before though buffed thanks to GHB and warscroll changes. Buff the clan rats death frenzy, gnaw gnash, and hope to get curse off on thier target for added fun. Back them up with warp lightning cannon and warpfire throwers (2 in each clan rat brick). Stormvermin are ablative wounds to the verminlord, or back up objective scorers. With the point changes I could afford an Emerald Lifeswarm, so I went master of magic on the verminlord to make sure that I get it and Death Frenzy off. Since I have 3 verminus heroes, I get to play musical command traits if I want too. At first glance it seems like the list definately got a decent boost. It will be interesting to see how it does. - Army Faction: Skaven - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line LEADERS Plague Priest (100) Clawlord (110)* Verminlord Warbringer (395)* - General - Command Traits: Master of Magic - Artefacts of Power: Shield of Distraction - Spells: Flaming Weapon Clawlord (110)* Plague Priest (100)** BATTLELINE Clanrats (200)* - Clanrat Standard Bearer - Clanrat Bell-ringer - Clawleader - Rusty Spear Clanrats (200)* - Clawleader - Clanrat Standard Bearer - Clanrat Bell-ringer - Rusty Spear Stormvermin (135)* ARTILLERY Warp Lightning Cannon (150)** Warp Lightning Cannon (150)** OTHER Warpfire Thrower (70) Warpfire Thrower (70) Warpfire Thrower (70)* Warpfire Thrower (70)* ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Emerald Lifeswarm (60) CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment **Grand Battery TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000 Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App

Just saw the balance update. Removing the minimum unit size from Spirit of Gorka Morka was a good call. My Rogue Idols will certainly appreciate it.

Shame. Real missed opportunity there.

Was there any way to pick prayers for the sceaming bell? Like a command trait or something? I would really love to swap out the plague priests in my list for Screaming Bells, as it would make things a lot better. Heck, I even looked into whether I could just buy curse as extra enhancements, but the rules clearly state that the priest key word. Fingers crossed that there may be something that I haven't heard yet...

I was already using 6 packs of flayers. It was pretty common to lose one to shooting or something, so coherency wasn't that bad. Having the heroic action is very nice, but I don't think it will cause me to shelve my varghulf, as it doesn't change the reasons for taking him at all. I do like that my abhorrents can return models now, and it makes our recovery mechanics that much more resilient. I am wondering if the upcoming changes might be enough to make bricks of 30 crypt ghouls worth while, or if they are still just too fragile.

Snagged these off of facebook. The new heroic action is nice.

Yes, the warscroll is in the ap now. I had to update mine manually, but it is there. @Broche: if the master dies, you still control it. This means that if there are no other legal targets then it must charge your unit, but you can mitigate this with positioning. It also means that you can heal it by letting it munch your Endless Spells. I was really torn between the Cogs and a predatory spell. The Cogs are useful in the army itself, but a predatory spell would be a lot easier to position so that you can charge it, devour it, then pile in to the enemy. This could theoretically be used to daisy chain into combats that you otherwise might not have been able to. I was 5 points shy from being able to fit in an Emerald Lifeswarm, which would have been perfect. Edit: having just said that, I realized that I could potentially fit a Lifeswarm in if I swapped the Savage Orruks for Moreboys. I may actually do that... as the Lifeswarm has the mobility, gives my general a 3rd source of healing, and can return orks on a 3+ to my units. I will be trading in some reach and durability, but I think it might be the better play.

It's been pretty quiet on this thread. Has anyone had a chance to try out any Incarnate lists. I think I have seen enough to get off the fence and pick one up. This is the first list that I am considering... - Army Faction: Orruk Warclans - Army Type: Bonesplitterz - Subfaction: Drakkfoot - Grand Strategy: Waaagh! - Triumph: Bloodthirsty LEADERS Wurrgog Prophet (150)* - General - Command Traits: Master of Magic - Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz - Spells: Gorkamorka’s War Cry Wardokk (80)* - Spells: Power of the Were-boar Maniak Weirdnob (100)* - Mount Traits: Fast ’Un - Spells: Glowy Green Tusks - Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur BATTLELINE Savage Orruk Morboys (155)* Savage Orruk Morboys (155)* Savage Orruks (165)* - Savage Stikka BEHEMOTH Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)* OTHER Savage Boarboy Maniaks (290)* Savage Boarboy Maniaks (290)* Savage Big Stabbas (80)** Savage Big Stabbas (80)** ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Chronomantic Cogs (45) CORE BATTALIONS - *Battle Regiment - **Hunters of the Heartlands TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000 Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App 3 drops. Bonded the Incarnate to the wierdnob since he can keep up with the Incarnate and pigs. If he dies, then I still have my general, and I can feed the Cogs to the Incarnate and heal it. I like that the Wurrgog and Wardokk have non casting things that they can do, so that they won't be completely nerfed by the Incarnate. The the Savage orruks screen the Wurrgog and Wardokk. Big Stabbas back up the Moreboys. Fast hammers run up and hopefully pin something good, and the foot troops bring up the rear and focus on objectives and support. And.... that is about it. What do you guys think? Have any experience using the Incarnate? How did it do? I am particularly curious about its durability.

If I can cast curse with a screaming bell, then I will be very happy. Right now I am running Plague priests with bricks of clan rats and it requires a lot more micro management to keep him from damaging them. This would be a much better solution if it can be pulled off.

Gitmob redone from the ground up could be fun. Regular greenskins are going to be needed at some point. Hobgrots could be an option. If I were have to build something from scratch I would create a bestial race of Druids that focus on destructive nature magic and summon elementals to fight for them.

Yeah, I have been using stream lined games. Just simple objectives. Getting the new players used to turn order, using thier command abilities, being able to read and understand thier unit rules, etc. I try not to bog them down with too much. I felt a little bad at first when the Wurrgog Mask or warp lighting cannon blasted something. But they quickly saw the randomness and risk vs reward play out. The FEC list I posted above works really well. The arch regent with burning weapons and the Varghulf are a brutal tag team at this point level. I think I may take up your suggestion on feast day. That would also free up my artifact choice and let me grab a grim garland to help my flayers out.